1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a bench for wood working, and more particularly to a miter saw utility stand.
2. DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
When a contractor, carpenter, cabinet maker or homeowner is working with wood, it is often necessary to cut wood pieces to exacting specifications. One such way to do this is by utilizing a miter saw. By utilizing a miter saw, cuts such as 45.degree. angles, and the like, can be accurately made through the wood.
When utilizing a miter saw, an apparatus usually has to be built to accommodate the saw and the wood workpiece being cut. For example, the woodworker typically sets up a temporary free-standing bench. This usually consists of a set of carpenter's horses with plywood on top. The horses and plywood are built up to the height of the table upon which the miter saw is contained. After the set-up has been completed, the woodworker may proceed with the sawing process.
This set-up has severe drawbacks. First, the "impromptu" arrangement is typically assembled and dismantled on a daily or job-to-job basis. Further, once the stand is designed and assembled, it is not easy to move. Accordingly, a lot of time is wasted in walking from the work area to where the saw and stand are.
Alternatively, many people do not bother with any kind of stand. Rather, they rely on another person to hold and support the piece of wood being cut. This procedure suffers from a number of defects. First, this arrangement is not cost productive as it requires the use of two individuals to perform the operation. Further, without a secure support biased against the wood being cut, the probability of a clean cut is minimized.
Further, others choose to use a miter saw without any kind of stand or a second person to hold the wood being cut. This too suffers from a great number of defects. First, reaching out to support the wood with one arm while aligning a cut mark to the saw blade with the other arm is time consuming, awkward, and typically ends up with an inaccurate cut which must be redone. Further, the chances of a physical injury caused by the set up are at a maximum.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to utilize a miter saw utility stand which is both portable and safe to use. Further, it would be desirable to develop a stand which is compact, safe, requires only one person for using it and is extremely versatile.
Although several prior art devices have been produced to meet some of these criteria, they have not satisfied all of them.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,336 to Davis discloses a portable universal miter saw workbench. The workbench includes a power tool supporting site and a workpiece supporting surface. The power tool support site and workpiece supporting surface are aligned vertically relative to each other. Both the supporting site and the supporting surface are constructed of two frames which are adjustable in a substantially horizontal direction to accept any size miter saw on the power tool supporting site. Further, the ends of the workpiece supporting surface may be longitudinally adjusted to accommodate a workpiece of various sizes.
Although the Davis work bench is constructed to enable the miter saw and the workpiece being cut to be aligned horizontally and vertically, there is no means provided for supporting the workpiece placed onto the workbench in a lateral direction. Accordingly, by using the Davis workbench, a clean cut cannot be guaranteed, particularly if only one person is operating the miter saw.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,734,151 to Skripsky and 3,335,765 to Murphy disclose portable workbenches. Although the work benches are designed so that saws, such as miter saws can be mounted into the bench, these benches suffer from the defect that they are not vertically and horizontally adjustable and as such, the user is restricted to work within the physical parameters set by the work bench.
Thus, a need exists for a utility stand for a miter saw which is portable, may be easily used by one person, has excellent versatility, and is safe to use.